She peed somewhere hard to get to for her

[hspot]

I initially thought maybe UTI or worse, but then I realized that where she peed at, she had to make a conscious effort to get there and pee. She just didn't do it on the way to her box. My cat has two boxes in the same closet(walk-in closet). One is covered, and one is not. I noticed that the older she got(she is 17 now), she started missing her box. So I put a border on the one without the cover, so that she had to jump into it. If she just walked into it, once she put her nose in the litter, she started peeing. Ever since I put the border up, she stopped doing that and only went inside the box(without the cover)because she had to jump in from the outside of it to get in.. The box with the dome cover, I have to keep the dome on it because of that behavior. She is a pretty large cat, 16 lbs, and can't fit comfortable in that box, but she still squeezes in there and does her business...usually in the same spot every time because of not being able to turn around comfortably because of the dome. Just the other day, I noticed on the side of that dome covered box, she peed. But she had to make a conscious effort to jump over the side of the dome just to go pee there. The only thing I can think of is she did it because there is litter spilt back there from when I clean that box. And she had peed there on the floor when she was a kitten, because she had struvite crystals. Maybe she can still smell the remanence of it, IDK? There was definitely a big enough space for her to jump back there and do it, but she had to decide to jump back there, because of the dome cover, just to pee. I have since put an old box back there so she cannot jump back there,unless she wants to squeeze into a tiny space where she can't move at all. Do you think it is because of past pees there when she was a kitten and/or the litter that was spilt back there?

 

[cindersue]

My 2 year old big Ragdoll girl who started to pee on soft places. I thought it was behavior but I read online that missing the box could be a medical issue. The Vet took her in the next morning. She has an inflamed bladder. She is now on urinary care food. My Vet told me to make sure to use an extra strength “Enzyme Stain” remover everywhere she had peed. She said I might have to repeat it until the smell was completely gone. It really worked well on my couch!
My Vet told me ”Once a cat smells her own urine she will pee there again”. You might consider buying a new box and pet mats around the box If she has peed on the outside of the box or on the floor.
I would be a good idea to take her to the vet since she had bladder issues when she was young.
Best of luck!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am having trouble visualizing where exactly she peed related to the domed box. Perhaps, a pic would help?

Given her size and age, I wonder if arthritis is playing a role in this. After all this time, I wouldn't think that the litter being spilt back there or the long ago struvite related pees are the issue. This is happening as the result of something more recent.

Is she still peeing in the other box without issue?

 

[hspot]

I am having trouble sending the pictures to my computer so I can upload them here, I will post them if I can figure it out. But the dome is against the opened door, leaving about a 3 ft crawl space behind the door and the box. The dome is blocking entrance to behind the door. She would have to jump over the side of the dome to get back there, and being 17 now, with whatever arthritis she has, I really don't think she would want to jump it. And honestly, I don't really know exactly how long that pee could have been there? There is always odor in the closet because of both boxes being in there. I don't know why I just noticed something different the past couple of days. She is peeing normally in that box otherwise...all in the same area where she can fit. She poops in the other box, sometimes pees. But the majority of her pees are in the dome box, and her poops are mostly in the uncovered box.

 

[hspot]

New photo by John Lee This was the only way I could put the pic here. Keep in mind, that box was not behind the door, just an empty floor. But she would have had to jump over the side to get there...at 17. She can still jump up on the couch with me, so she's not completely unable to get up on things. I put those two bottles on the box just to see if she tried to get back there again, and they would be knocked off if so.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks! I kind of get it now. So, I guess at this point I would say she has changed her mind and does not like the small domed box. Cats can change preferences without (human) reason. Two litter boxes so close together might no longer be the way to go with her. The smell in an enclosed box can also become a factor. You have a ton of changes you could make to the configuration/location of her boxes, and to her litter boxes in general. I would suggest you try some. You sound 'cat savvy' enough to know what to experiment with.

 

[hspot]

Well I clean her littler boxes all the time, multiple times a day. So the chance of her having anything extra in them is rare. I get it that there may be smell lingering though. As far as her behavior here, this was the only time she did this...other than when she was a kitten with struvite crystals. So I will see how she fares now. She poops once in the morning every day now, mostly in the open box.....if you remember my post a couple/few months back of her not pooping for days, and psyllium husk,etc. And she pees maybe 3-5 times a day mostly in the dome box, but sometimes after she poops in the other one(I counted it once from when I cleaned the box in the morning, all the way to when I went to sleep). I do think her hearing is going now , because when I walk up to pet her, it startles her a lot of times. I will treasure as many years left as I have with her.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Based on what you have said, I think you need to log what is happening and see if you find a longer term pattern. From what I hear you are saying, this does not appear to be a recurring event - yet. She is 17 (as is my cat) so I totally understand your concern. But, I still think you need to consider 'playing around' with the boxes, locations, and configurations. As you will always hear from any cat lover who has an older cat, semi annual full scale vet check ups are a must. You've been on this site long enough to know why.

If you truly think that her long ago pee issues are somehow involved, then remove everything from that closet and deep clean the carpet - perhaps it might even entail removing the carpet? Placing pee pads or some other mat to collect the split litter - something that you can remove and replace is also an option based on your speculation.

Her hearing may be going, but that, IMO, has nothing to do with her litterbox issues, unless you can share information that would tie the two together.

 

[hspot]

No, I was just mentioning her hearing going as an emphasis of her getting old...

 

[hspot]

And I think Tabitha wouldn't know what to do if I moved her boxes. They've been in the same spot for over 15 years now. I have thought about it before, but I'm always afraid she will just go to the spot where the box used to be, and just go pee....especially at her age.